Small acts of resistance: Steve Crawshaw

He loves the idea of 'mischief with a purpose'. Where small acts of public resistance to oppressive regimes, censorship and human rights abuses bring about change.

Why would someone want to push their TV around the streets in a pram? That was how Polish people protested in the 1980s, a small act to show that they refused to watch the government censored nightly news.

Steve has been in Australia travelling with the Secretary General of Amnesty International.

Richard talks to him about his book, and his reaction to visits to the Indigenous settlement Utopia, in the Northern Territory, and the Villawood detention centre in Sydney's south west.

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Comments (8)

Gordon :

18 Oct 2011 9:44:08am

Steve Crawshaw demonstrates the total unreality of life amongst the Amnesty/UNHCR crowd when he lectures Australia on our treatment of a) aborigines, and, b)illegal boat people.

The Government spends vast amounts of money trying to help better the lives of aborigines, some of whom have no desire to be helped. Damned if we do, damned if we don't. Maybe we should all just go back to our countries of origin and let them go back to their pre-colonial way of life and early death.As for the illegals, nobody asked them to come here. They're clearly opportunistic migrants, spending $15,000 each to get here surreptitiously without IDs, when $2,000 would get them a comfortable flight from anywhere in the world, like some do with IDs.Mr Cranshaw is naive, idealistic and shouldn't be welcomed as some kind of humanist guru with all the answers.

Helen Killen :

18 Oct 2011 12:25:54pm

I found Steve Crawshaw's opinions ill informed and his attitude arrogant. Just how much research did he do on ANY of the areas he spoke about. Really sick of the "cow towing" by the likes of Richard Aedy and others on the ABC. When is the ABC going to feature the people who REALLY know about these important issues?? Do your "guests" have to pass a the ABC bias test to get onto RN programs and ABC TV programs like Q&A, Insiders, The Drum etc??? We really need to know the facts not the ABC's vetted opinions of them.

Joseph :

18 Oct 2011 7:09:52pm

Mr Crawshaw is clearly unhappy with what is going on with asylum seekers and indigenous communities in remote areas. And aren't we all, no one would wish these conditions on anyone. However we don't live in a world where bad things can be wished away. Asylum seekers have been suffering well before they arrived in Australia. It is not Australia's responsibility to make everything 'better again'. We have responsibilities to discourage dangerous boat journeys. We have responsibilities to the millions of other refugees who will never be able to pay their way onto an Australia bound boat.Mr Crawshaw seems unaware that many millions have been spent in remote indigenous communities to no avail. This failure is indicated by shocking health outcomes, appalling child abuse, poor education and lawlessness. Why would anyone financially continue to support these disasters.Mr Crawshaw seems quite unable to give Australian any credit for its achievements that so clearly benefit the vast majority of ordinary citizens.

Sarah :

20 Oct 2011 8:38:13pm

Actually Mr Crawshaw *mentioned* the millions that have already been spent on indigenous Australians to limited avail. Your statement that he seems unaware of this maybe reflects poor listening on your part. As he pointed out, they have mostly been spent without consultation and collaboration with those it is intended to help. We shouldn't continue to do the same thing over - I quite agree. We should start collaborating in the solution instead of trying to impose it.